Saturday, October 9, 2010

A few readers sent us the link to an article that ran in New York Magazine entitled Chasing Fox, written by Gabriel Sherman. Sherman writes about, among other things, how Klein came up with the Parker/Spitzer team, Aaron Brown, Crossfire and the long rumored CNN/CBS merge. Here are a few of the opening paragraphs. It's a really interesting read and we hope you'll find time to read the entire article by following the link.

In the spring of 2006, a year and a half after he was hired to run CNN/U.S., Jonathan Klein went to his boss Jim Walton with an idea. CNN was in trouble. While the network remained a profit engine and an iconic brand, prime-time ratings were stalled. Fox News had surged ahead in the cable-news race, and now, alarmingly, Keith Olbermann was coming on strong. His anti-Bush broadsides were transforming his 8 p.m. MSNBC show, Countdown, into a bombastic counterweight to Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, and combined, both personalities were drowning out CNN’s Paula Zahn, the respected television veteran who was anchoring a standard newscast during the 8 p.m. slot.

And so Klein set out to poach Olbermann. At the time, Olbermann had a window to negotiate in his MSNBC contract and Klein made a hard sell. He told Olbermann he could bring Countdown to CNN—the two even discussed which members of Olbermann’s staff would make the move with him. “Jon and I were in very deep discussions on a regular basis for me to go over there,” says Olbermann. “One of the premises was we would have put MSNBC out of business.”

Ted Turner’s vision of the primacy of the news remained something of a religion at CNN. But Klein was hired to take risks. A former executive vice-president at CBS News, Klein had a reputation as an expletive-spouting showman. He was based at CNN’s offices in the Time Warner Center, lunched frequently at Gabriel’s and Porter House New York, and enjoyed reading his quotes in the Times. When he took the job in 2004, he insisted CNN give him the title of president. It was a style that didn’t always sit well with Walton and senior executives in Atlanta, which had been the power center that imbued the network with a folksy, cautious sensibility. A CNN lifer who had joined the network as a 23-year-old video journalist, Walton cast himself as a protector of CNN tradition.

Walton pushed back on Klein’s plan to hire Olbermann. “I’m not gonna be the guy who’s gonna turn CNN into an opinion network,” he told executives in meetings. But in Klein’s view, CNN already was an opinion network. For an hour each night, Walton tolerated Lou Dobbs’s anti-immigration tirades. Klein pressed Walton to reconsider, but Walton held firm. “I bailed out when it became apparent that the people above [Klein] were less than sanguine about this,” Olbermann tells me.

There has been plenty of movement since then at CNN: Campbell Brown came and went; Lou Dobbs was finally forced out; Larry King at long last retired. But ratings have mostly flowed in one direction: downward—down 40 percent since 2009.

Klein faced a possibly insoluble cable-news riddle: How do you build the kind of excitement that draws in viewers without being partisan? At a Time Warner board meeting this spring, Walton was forced to defend CNN’s ratings issues. The pressure on Klein ratcheted up. In April, Klein began talks with British talk-show personality Piers Morgan. In June, he announced that he would hire the famously black-socked and disgraced former governor Eliot Spitzer. Klein faced stiff internal resistance to hiring Spitzer. When one CNN executive expressed to Klein the concern that viewers risked being turned off by Spitzer’s hooker scandal, Klein had snapped, “I don’t give a fuck.”

Pairing him with a female co-host was delicate. “They were concerned a young, beautiful co-host wouldn’t work,” said one source familiar with the show’s development. Finally, they settled on Kathleen Parker, an attractive 59-year-old Pulitzer Prize–winning conservative columnist. The Parker Spitzer show debuts on October 4.

Klein thought his place at the network was secure. Six weeks ago, CNN signed him to a new contract. But late last month, Walton made his move. Klein was planning to head to a rehearsal for the Parker Spitzer show when he stopped by Walton’s office. In a five-minute conversation, Walton told Klein he was out. “You’re the best president CNN has ever had, but we’re making a change,” he told him. In Klein’s place, Walton was bringing in longtime CNN executive Ken Jautz, a former CNN Berlin bureau chief who had successfully juiced the ratings of sister network HLN by taking it down-market and tabloid. For now, Jautz is staying the course. “Our business model is based on quality journalism and nonpartisan programming,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong; we have a ratings challenge in prime time.”

36 comments:

Anonymous
said...

This article makes it clear that Jon Kleindid not care about CNN. Too bad CNNlet him stick around to destroy CNN frompossibly being fixed. CNN needs to finditself a way to distance the channel fromall things Klein.

Let's hope now that CNN is being run by 2men who have been with CNN for yearsand managed to work themselves to the topCNN will have a better vision and goals toturn things around. I am not sure Countdownwould be big on CNN. Sometimes people tryand paint everything with a broad brush. Whatworks for MSNBC and FNC probably won't workon CNN. CNN has to make itself stand out fromit's competitors. You don't get there by doingthe same thing. CNN needs a creative genius.CNN needs to find people who are findingcreative and innovative ways to bring usnews and information.

CNN has fires burning all around the place.They have to do something really soon aboutthe morning show and the problems in primetime are going to get bigger. I know of so manypeople who are really disappointed in the directionCNN is headed You mention Eliot Spitzer and PiersMorgan and the eyes roll.CNN is pretty pathetic.Maybe CNN can come up with some new ideasfor 2011. For all we know Ken Jautz could'vebeen asked to come up with some ideas waybefore all of this happened. Shows like ParkerSpitzer ignore viewers. These people are not bigger than the news.

CNN needs to really focus on content, story-telling and come up with showspeople want to actually watch. Also,they must come up the new designsfor the CNN logo, banners and graphics.I don't like the color scheme with CNNgraphics and banners. Please quit it with shooting video from monitors. Itis just downright annoying. Who buysa 50 inch HDTV to see another monitor.Nobody. Definitely pick up the pace anddrop it with being the opinion channel.One thing I really don't understand iswhen CNN says hearing from all sides.If you do the news , how may storieshave sides ? That is an outdated leftvs right model. Cut that out. Finally,quit hiring jerks that make CNN lookbad and should not be on CNN in thefirst place.

"CNN has to stand out from its competitors. What works for MSNBC and Fox wouldn't work for CNN."If ONLY.CNN's problems are so embodied in nonsense it's almost impossible to put into words.Lawrence O'Donnell is literally pounding AC360 to death and why, because he has a well produced show that knows where it's going and actually informs the viewer what to expect and carries through on the expectations.The other nite while AC was AGAIN promoting his special on BULLYING, O'Donnell had on Lou Dobbs and someone knowledgeable immigration laws. O'Donnell gets the "GETS" and doesn't let go, and the pace is FAST. He doesn't linger on one subject and hammer it to bits. And to give O'Donnell credit, he has just begun.Along with firing Klein let's get rid of David Doss. Something is very wrong with CNN's producers. They need a course in how to produce news content and present it to the viewer.

CNN needs to use writing and presentationto communicate and connect with viewers.If you just constantly put talking heads onwith the back and forth, how does that benefit the viewers .It is time for adifferent approach. Just give us the story and let us think for ourselves. I don't carewhat Parker or Spiter think about anythingperiod. There are more than 6 billion peopleon the planet. Hit the streets CNN and dosome reporting and find stories the worlddoes not know about.CNN is thinking likeold media.CNN bring the news into myhome like you used to.I feel like I am wasting my time with CNN these days.I don't watch Parker Spitzer but I ampicky about what I watch on CNN. Punditsand ideologues own cable news. Thereporters don't matter. When news ishappening who is more valuable. Eachday I go out and discover something newthat I am not seeing on CNN. The 360 blogand CNN need to set up a social medianetwork for viewers, filmmakers, writersand others can reach out to CNN withstories they think CNN should know about. In 2011 that is how you engageyour viewers. Also since CNN has dozensof affiliates around the world connectpeople with news from cities and townsthey may live is and countries that theymight be interested in. Have a contestfor band to create original songs aboutthe news that can be used on CNN asmany companies are doing these days.You will never connect with people usingtalking heads. You will surely lose them.Call it a news exchange or whatever.Don't forget about the viewers CNN.Let me be clear this is for people whoare really interested in learning aboutnews and information. Keep politicsand personal attacks out of it andmake it a pleasant experience withoutname calling and fake info. If peopleshow up just to spread hate. Don'tpublish the quotes. Please bring backthe science and technology and environment segments on CNN. I reallymiss the tech show that once airedon the weekends.

CNN is just letting the news go by andignoring stories that people care about.I think the problem with most networksis the age of the people running thenetworks. They are all baby boomers and left vs right is the news they are used to seeing and how they view theworld. Times have changed. There isgreat resistance brewing against thistype of so-called journalism. Wake upCNN and adapt to the changing world.

I really wish CNN would start a segmentcalled In Memorandum. This week legendarygospel singer Albertina Walker passed awayand not once was the story even mentionedon CNN but it was all over FB, Google and even Twitter. That is just wrong and sad.What has happened to CNN as a news organization. Once upon a time you couldturn to CNN at anytime and get the news.Now that is gone. Why ? I don't get why CNNis not live so many times either.

Interesting, there is a promo running on CNNsaying Anderson Cooper will be talking withYoko Ono on 360 and he is on 60 minutes tonight talking to Eminem. That reminds meof the 360 from back in the day. It was news,pop culture and interesting stuff. I really lovedwhen Anderson tested something out live andyou saw how it turned out right before your eyes.I don't know who came up with the bright ideato ruin a true original news show. Can we getit back with the cool bump music and theNth degree.I always thought 360 was boreddown in an effort to make it compatible withCampbell Brown.360 is the one show thesuits need to leave alone and let it get backto how it started. One hip news show.

As long as Parker Spitzer is the lead showin the prime time lineup on CNN things willnot change. Same thing goes for Piers Morgan.When you hear who CNN recently hired wouldyou watch. Of course not. O'Donnell is alsobenefiting from Rachel Maddow as a lead in.The problem for 360 is Parker Spitzer is causing the ratings for MSNBC to go up andCNN continues going down. CNN must be livefor the full 180 minutes of prime time. I amwilling to bet CNN could cancel Parker Spitzer tomorrow and they would be applauded. Same thing goes for Morganwho has not business on CNN. Viewerswill never accept these shows. You don'tpeddle junk to viewers.CNN came upwith an ill-fated strategy. These 2 showsare failure from the start and have nobusiness on a cable news channel.

I don't know why some are surprised that Lou Dobbs is a hypocrite. To me that goes without saying.I also don't relate to Yoko Ono or Eminem. Obviously AC has decided that it is easier to be a personality than a real journalist and that's sad.Yoko Ono was never a popular person.She's supposed to be a real b...h, so why bother and half the viewers don't even know who she is or was.

Joe summed things up for CNN this morning onMorning Joe. CNN forgot about it's brand. CNNshould never have given shows to Lou Dobbs,Rick Sanchez, Eliot Spitzer and Piers Morgan.Does CNN have any idea how many people theyhave angered. CNN must do news it is their forte.Hard news. original reports rock sold journalismis CNN. News is the niche for CNN since itis not being offered anywhere. I am with Joe.CNN would do itself good to stand up for thenews and important information. CNN hasto start a revolution. News and vital infomatter more than anything else. CNN mustbe the source for the news and get awayfrom the circus sooner rather than later.So many people are hoping CNN will seethe error of it's ways and get back to news.The smartest thing CNN could do right nowwould be to move Parker Sptizer and Morganto weekends. They can't have these peopleon Mon-Fri Put someone like Don Lemonon at 9, he is respected. At 8 I am thinkingit would be best for CNN to go with a newsshow for women. anchored by the femalereporters at CNN. I say go with 4 hosts.CNN needs to get back to being the cablenews network.CNN can't afford to be allover the place in prime time.CNN hasto come up with a lineup that belongstogether and do news and drop opinion.Talk and bad decisions are killing CNN.

CNN is making the same mistake the TodayShow made years ago. Katie Couric endedup saving the show. Sadly, CNN does notget it. No matter what they do people willnot watch Parker Spitzer or Piers Morgan.People don't like them having shows onCNN.I really don't think the suits realizethey are in the middle of a huge backlash.I say also bring back CNN Tonight at 7 andmove John King to weekends too. CNN can'tkeep dissing viewers.CNN is a brand thatbecomes more damaged each day theystay the Klein course. Jon Klein is theman who sabotaged CNN.

What I don't understand is what was the rush?It is as if someone wasn't thinking of the harmthese 2 shows and others would do to CNN. Thepeople you put on your network become the facesof the the channel CNN needs to cut it's losses.Cancel Parker Spitzer and don't even let PiersMorgan make it to air.CNN's wound are self inflicted.

OMG. CNN can't afford to stick with ParkerSpitzer long term. It is ironic that CampbellBrown outperformed Parker Spitzer & RickSanchez. Viewers are definitely sending CNNa message about what they will tolerate. Joesimply pointed out what everyone had beensaying, why is CNN abandoning it's principles.It is just not smart. Maybe at some point themanagement will get this but I;m not hopefuluntil they see the light about Parker Spitzerand Piers Morgan. These 2 shows are adisaster for CNN.

Everyone seems to think that the leadins to 360 is what is killing it and primetime on CNN. While part of that is true, 360 has to take part of the blame for stabbing itself, especially now, with O'Donnell breathing down AC's back.Why was it necessary to take a good topic like Bullying and stretch it for four days and then put it together, edit it, and then call it a Special?? There was nothing special about it. We saw it already during the week.This is LAZY journalism and it isn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last either. And those faithful viewers are turning in droves to alternative programming, Not because they dislike Anderson, but because they dislike HIS SHOW.

360 is the only thing CNN has going for itright now and yes lead ins play a role. FNCand MSNBC have shows that bring in viewersat 8. Yes lead ins matter that is is why thefirst hour of prime time is important and should not be taken lightly.If you noticeHannity loses more than a million viewersfrom BOR. Rachel gains and Larry King hasa terrible lead in as well.CNN is losing viewersat 7 as well. The 10 pm hour tends to be the lowest rated hour even for the big 3.AC makes millions for CNN. With CNN turning off so many people, there is noway 100's of thousands are going tosuddenly turn to CNN at 10. They leavethe channel where it is.

CNN should get back to being a real 24/7news channel and include international news in the mix. Content can be a problemfor 360 and CNN at times.I would like toCNN try doing hard news for 6 monthsminus the pov and talking heads and seewhat happens.360 was doing great tonightuntil Parker Spitzer was mentioned. I hadto delete it from the dvr. I am one of thepeople who are boycotting Parker Spitzer.Turned the channel for 5 minutes to make sure they are never on my dvr.

CNN could learn from the Gap. After a huge backlash waged on FB they wentback to the old logo. I guess I will haveto turn from CNN during the day andstart watching MSNBC. I really don't careto see clips of opinion from Parker Spitzerall day long. Are we suppose to believe there is no news so viewers have to sufferfrom clips of Parker Spitzer.

CNN needs to become the information network& not the boring talk channel.It makes no sensein the Digital Age that CNN's content is crappy.There are too many resources for journalists these days. CNN really needs to go out into thereal world and stop relying on people who maketheir livings off of anger and divisiveness. CNNneeds to realize that has played out and is reallybringing down old media. They are afraid of thenew media because the new media shows justhow lazy they are.If some kids can go out andbe creative with their cameras, why can't CNN.

I do want to say kudos to Dr Sanjay Gupta forhis Human Factor series. It is inspiring anduplifting. It is time for some positive news.

Start the pool to see how soon CNN will beforced to cancel Parker Spitzer. I say it willonly last for a month. The program is a dragon CNN's ratings causing them to tank. CNNshould never have gone to a lineup withouta female having her own show. Will it beKyra, who was pretty good subbing for Larry.Suzanne Malveaux who subs for Wolf or 3 or4 hosts. If CNN management does not get themessage like right now, they never will. Trashand sleaze have no place on CNN. It is supposeto be a news channel.

If Parker sits any closer to Spitzer, she'll be sitting on his lap, and then some.Who's idea was it to put these two, who have zero chemistry together, at a round table with other equally boring guests? Oh, I know, Jon Klein, who management decided to fire before this disasterous show ever hit the air. Too Late.Larry King had a total of 196,000 viewers last nite. I really think Klein should have stuck around to see what a mess he created...and because he was allowed to sign a new contract in June, I bet he's still being paid!

Good grief CNN. The banner is too largefor the live coverage of the Chilean minerescue & it says CNN = Politics.C'mon CNN.Are they just going from bad to worse ina NY minute.Is anyone really minding thestore.

Tonight I saw a documentary on Ted Turner.CNN is suppose to be a 24/7 live news channel.CNN needs a 21st century visionary as Turnerwas a 20th century visionary.

Finally, CNN gets it. Real time coverage isthe best. Technology makes this prettysimple. You have Skype, live-streamingwith an I-phone and computers. There isno excuse for CNN not being innovativein ways to bring us live events from allaround the world. Those are crisp andclear pictures from a mine in Chile. Manythanks to Anderson Coooper and all ofthe people at CNN involved. Keep in mindCNN that the news is the star. These arethe words of your founder Ted Turner.

Zain Verjee was reporting to Tony Harris the other day about the new Queen Elizabeth, the redesigned oceanliner. She had a short cropped haircut and looked years younger and very cute and flirty.Wish we could see her more often.She was a "breath of fresh air," for the stale NYC studios.

All of CNN is laughable, including 360. When the NYT refers to Anderson Cooper as a "personality,"you know he's not being taken seriously either. And why should he be?He still hasn't decided what he wants to be when he "grows up."No wonder he bought a fire station.Next will hear he's decided to become a fireman, just because the mood struck him.No one is real on CNN anymore so just don't expect it.

There have been so many who said Crossfirewould not work in 2011 and they are right.The world is very different now and CNNneeds to realize how people communicateand consume information.It is definitely notwhat CNN is offering. Content can be sounlimited for CNN. Just last week there wasa study about internet content. It turns outit is not updated that often There is the hugeadvantage and opening for CNN. They haveCNN, CNN I , CNN.com, stations around thewould that are connected to CNN and plentyof magazines and websites owned by TimeWarner. They don't need people like Parker,Spitzer or Morgan.CNN needs to focus oncontent, news, reporting, storytelling ,presentation and production and connectingwith the masses. You have got to seek thenews and people that is out there worldwide.There is no longer any excuse for CNN tobe this disconnected from viewers. CNNhas got to reach out to people and say we want to hear from you about storiesand events and interesting items you thinkwe should know about. Exclude politicsand see what you get and you will see CNN has been ignoring the world. Whichis the place for news.CNN has some ofthe best reporters on the planet and wedon't get to see enough of them.

We make a point of posting on the blog whenwe think CNN does something right. Congratsto all involved in the Chilean mine rescue. It isexpected that more than a billion people willwatch this worldwide. We hate to say it but theMSNBC lean forward campaign could not bemore timely. The coverage of this live eventis courtesy of the technological advances made by mankind. Nasa was involved as wellas a lot of American innovation.CNN must belive at 8. There is no way to fix Parker Spitzer.The show is an ill-fated concept. KarlPenhaul & Gary Tuchman and the CNNpeople are doing a great job, People turnto CNN for news and that is what it is allabout.It should be interesting to see theratings. Right now CNN is one of the topsearches on Google. That tells me thatpeople are watching on multiple platforms.Think about what we all witnessed.Wecould actually see the Phoenix being lowereddown some 2300 ft. That is how you usetechnology in news. Maybe CNN needs a livenews show on location from around the worldadventure at 8. Live streaming and realtime is where things are going and will onlyget bigger and bigger. Anybody can streamevents and it is fairly inexpensive and itis a great way for CNN to highlight theirjournalists and photographers, etc.It isas though we are in Chile live.

Finally, CNN did it's job.It was great tosee Zain and I watched her overnight.Can we get CNN International startingat midnight.360 was awesome last night as well as CNN's coverage of theevent itself.Is there any way for CNNto let Ted Turner have some sort ofrole with the network? I have beenglued to the television watching CNNsince 8 last night. Kyra Phillips said itbest when she handed things off toTony Harris. This is what CNN does, itis their brand. Are you listening suits?If CNN focuses on news and not thenoise they will be just fine. But theymust signal to viewers that they areserious about the news. Television isa visual medium. Keep that in mindas well.

Well tonight we get the worst of CNN.The Delaware debate is not a nationalnews story. Nothing makes it differentfrom other Senate races around thecountry. CNN needs to start thinking on the global scale again and stop being so lowbrow. Look for CNN totake a ratings dive tonight.

CNN will face the possibility of missingthe last miner coming out live. There areonly 4 left to be brought out and CNN hasa debate and Parker Spitzer. CNN pleasedo yourselves and viewers a favor showthe miners and not that Parker Spitzer.

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CNN just became a national joke on amajor news story. You don't have ParkerSpitzer anchoring on a major news story.CNN is a disgrace. How could they eventhink about doing that to Candy Crowley.They should have gone to Candy only.We know CNN ratings will tank as a result because they had on a boring debateand they got worse.

I really want CNN to Work..Why do i watch a news channel?To watch and hear about the news..I Have patiently waited around until they got rid of Lou Dobbs Glenn Beck Etc.. Now i'm waiting for them to get rid of Piers Morgan and his show hasn't aired yet.. Show me the News .. I don't care about talk television.. Come on CNN... Don't Die..